by Liz Crowe
“Just wash your forkin’ ass!” Henry shouts, slapping the door. “Don’t mind him, ladies. A chick tonight didn’t know who he was. Deflated Cunter’s poor ego. He got trashed; now he’s covered in his own self-pity.”
“Is that what self-pity smells like?” Cam shrieks, holding her nose. “Fuck, someone needs to put that man out of his misery!”
“I’m in misery without someone to fork, baby!” Hunter sings from the shower. “I wanna, wanna fork you long time.”
“Oh my god! Aiden, I need to go to bed,” Cam groans, shaking her head.
“You got this?” Aiden asks, looking at Henry as Hunter starts another chorus of ‘fork you, baby’.
“I’ve got him, man. No one else can handle him when he gets like this,” I hear Henry reply as I head into the bedroom with Gray hot on my heels.
Closing the door behind him Gray’s eyes meet mine. Pulling me against him, his thumb traces my bottom lip slowly undoing me. “Interesting night… Cam beat the hell outta Tad. Landon freaked out on her. Not to mention Aiden nearly rippin’ his head off for touchin’ Camaron,” he says, shakin’ his head. “Landon isn’t worried about who he hurts. I’m firing them once they come back. Aiden agrees, and, well, Hunter is too fucked in his own head tonight but he will be on board too. They’re gone, but you…” he says brushing his lips over mine.
“I can’t just…” I start but Gray silences me with a kiss. His tongue parts my lips, diving into my mouth. Melting against him has become instinct and he knows it too. Gray grins against my lips as he pulls us to the bed, settling me on top of him. Our lips fused together, my hands tugging his hair. Loving every minute of his hands running along my body, I lose myself in him, in us. I don’t want to think about the fact that everything is falling apart around us. I don’t want to think that this is temporary, even though my subconscious knows it is.
“We have something here, Wildflower. You can’t deny it. Your name is signed on the contract as an assistant to the band. Extra pair of hands, remember? I want you here. Stay. Tell me you won’t leave,” he pleads, as I pull my shirt over my head. Rolling me beneath him, Gray trails kisses along my chest. His lips moving along the edge of my tattoo so carefully, so gently that it almost unhinges me.
“I don’t wanna think about it Gray, not now.” Leaning back, I pop the clasp on my bra, tossing it to the floor. Gray runs his tongue around my nipple, sucking it into his mouth. Straddling his thighs, I roll my hips against him making his eyes close. He releases my nipple with a pop. Those amazing eyes of his snapping up to mine, hooded and dark, waiting to claim me again.
“You. Naked. Now,” he groans.
The door flies open making me jump. Hunter walks in as Gray wraps his arms around me. My chest smashed against his, keeping me covered. “What the fuck are you doing in my room, Cunter?” Ignoring Gray, Hunter flops on the bed beside us, completely naked, still dripping wet from his shower.
“I wrote a song,” he slurs, wrapping an arm around Gray’s neck. My eyes drift down Hunter’s body. His colorful bands aren’t the only tattoos he has. He has music notes along his chest and lyrics that I can’t read from this angle. “Do you wanna hear it?”
“Get out, asshole,” Gray says, as I roll my eyes.
Hunter grins at me, pinching my cheek. “This one’s for you, Daisy: I loooooove you. You little spooner.”
“Get the fuck on with it then,” Gray growls, as I giggle against him. This is the most fucked up night ever. I think I am hallucinating.
Hunter leans over on his side, his dick nearly brushing against us. “Keep that over there. I don’t know where it’s been,” Gray bites out.
“In your mother, bitch,” Hunter tosses out then groans covering his face. “I take that back man. Your mom needs some work.”
“Get the hell on with it; today, Cunter,” I say, trying to be sweet so that Gray doesn’t kill him.
Hunter leans back against the pillows as he starts singing. “There’s some skeeter in my peeter, beat it off. There’s some skeeter in my peeter, suck it off. There’s some skeeter in my peeter…” Gray shoves him to the floor making him groan. “Damn man. I was bringin’ it home.”
“Not in here you aren’t,” Henry says, wrapping a towel around him. “You dumb fucker. Get in there and put some clothes on.”
“I love you, Henry,” Hunter slurs.
“Not even if you were rich with a great rack, you sloshed out bastard.” With a chuckle, Henry shoves Hunter out of the room, closing the door behind them.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud, but I am shaking so hard Gray glares at me. “This has been the craziest night of my life,” he says, scrubbing a hand over his face.
“By far,” I reply. Losing my fight with the giggles, curling onto my un-tattooed side, I slide my jeans off.
“The sun is coming up, we better get some sleep,” he whispers, stroking my hair. I nod, as I feel him kick off his boots then curl against me. “Goodnight Wildflower,” he breathes, then covers us with the quilt.
“Good morning, Gray,” I mutter into the pillow making him chuckle.
“Good morning, smart ass.”
Chapter Thirteen
Diners and Dipshits
“Wake up, you wild naked freaks,” Cam teases from the cracked door, making me jump. “Coffee’s ready.”
As she closes the door, I lean up to slide from the bed. Gray’s arms close around my waist, tugging me back against him. “You don’t get to leave me in bed without saying good morning first.” He pulls me over his chest. My arms instantly wrapping around his neck.
“Just want coffee. The door isn’t locked, anyone can just walk right in here, Gray,” I purr against his lips.
“Well it’s a good thing that I’m firing them today then, isn’t it? I’m not hiding us anymore, from anyone,” Gray grumbles as he slams his mouth to mine quickly. “Come on then, let’s go get coffee. The bus is moving so I guess everyone made it back in one piece,” he says, swatting my ass as I jump from the bed.
The bus is quiet as I stumble up the aisle to the living area. Cam is waiting for me at the table with Aiden. “Thanks,” I mumble in my cup as I sip.
“I figured you may need it,” she winks.
I scoot into the seat across from them, “It’s not like that. We aren’t a couple of horn dogs that just go at each other until we need food and sleep. We spent the entire night at a diner then a tattoo shop. It was…”
“Fun,” Gray says, flopping down next to me. “It was unplanned fun. Daisy, say it.”
“It was fun,” I mutter elbowing him in the ribs.
“So why didn’t anyone wake us when Tad and Landon got back? The bus wasn’t supposed to leave with them on it,” Gray asks. His eyes drifting back toward the bunks.
“They didn’t come back on the bus Gray,” Aiden murmurs into his mug as he sips.
“What the hell do you mean they didn’t come back Aiden?” I ask as if he just told me the world was flat. “Where else would they go?”
“Landon called Henry a few hours ago. He said they were going to just drive up to Vegas, grab a hotel or whatever. That they would see us in a couple days.”
Sliding around Gray, I head straight for the bedroom to grab my phone. I dial Landon’s number which goes straight to voicemail; as if I expected him to answer for me anyway. I listen as his voicemail asks to ‘please leave a message and have a great day’. Then when the beep goes off so do I. “Landon, you complete chicken shit! You pull a stunt like that, knowing that I would see it. You aren’t as stupid as you want me to believe! You want to punish me for giving your ring back to you then you do that, asshole. See you in a couple days. I, for one, can’t wait.” Hanging up, I toss the phone to the bed.
“Feel better?” Jerking around I see Gray leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed over his bare chest. His black hair wildly sticking up everywhere, making me want to dive into him. “Did you think he would answer?” he asks, calmly studying me.
/>
I shake my head. “I wanted an explanation. Closure or something, you know? Landon acts like this was no big deal. The way he’s brushing me aside pisses me off, Gray, because we were together a year.” Slumping to the bed, I bury my head in my hands. “It’s like I meant nothing. Sweet little Daisy was just a front for him. I was his normal, his safe. Then he had this whole other hidden world that I knew nothing about. God Gray, I’m so stupid!”
“The last thing YOU are is stupid,” he growls making me jump. “You were falling in love, Daisy. That shit doesn’t happen every day. If my suspicions are right, then Landon and Tad have been playin’ us all for fuckin’ fools; especially you. This crock of shit is getting dealt with in Vegas. Until then we’re goin’ to have some fun, damn it.”
“Okay,” I sniffle.
“Good. Now get that pretty ass of yours cleaned up. We’ll stop soon for some food. Aiden is looking up some diners right now.” Leaning down, Gray presses his lips to mine then passes Cam on his way out of the room.
“Alright, while you tell me about last night in vivid detail, let’s find something for you to wear to show off that tat, sweets,” she says, digging through my bag.
An hour later, I am dragged off the bus by Gray. Aiden, Cam, Henry and even Hunter rose from the dead to eat. “I don’t know what the big deal is, Henry. You could just bring me my bacon,” Hunter says, pulling his hood tighter over his head. He refused to leave the bus without a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, saying that he is totally on board with becoming a vampire. “Who the fuck told the sun to be so bright today? Shit, it’s like it is taunting me.”
“Yeah, that’s it Hunter. The sun came out today just to fuck with your hangover,” Cam says, smirking from under Aiden’s arm.
Hunter tosses middle fingers at the sky, “Fuck you, sun! You cheery bitch!”
“Who the hell pissed in your cornflakes man?” Gray huffs out as we step inside.
Henry walks over to the hostess, securing us a table in a place he approves of. Hunter pulls his shades down his nose meeting our eyes. “The bitch thought that Henry was some fighter or something. She had no idea who I was. ME! I’m Hunter motherfuckin’ Chesterfield! I’m a goddamn rock GOD! I needed that pussy like I need to breathe. There she was grindin’ all up on Henry. When I ran my hand up her thigh she was all like ‘and who the fuck are you?’ I told her, of course,” he says, winking. “Then, of course, she doesn’t believe me. Said I was full of shit. I’m devastated. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve had a piece of ass?” he huffs, falling into the booth, sliding all the way in to the window.
“Um… not even two days?” I toss out, rolling my eyes at him.
“Oh! My poor aching cock! It’s been that long?” he groans. “Any one of you spooners wanna take one for the team? It’s a matter of life and death.”
“These two are off limits,” Henry says, sliding in next to him, giving us a wink.
Gray slides into the huge horseshoe sized booth pulling me in with him so that I am nowhere near Cunter or his re-inflating ego. Cam and Aiden slide in beside us as the waiter walks up.
Henry’s eyes scan the menu, “So, you have a three pound bacon cheeseburger challenge, huh?”
The waiter nods. Hunter’s eyes perk up. “I want that. Hell yes! And the biggest chocolate milkshake you can fuckin’ manage.”
“I’ll have the same,” Henry says politely.
“Aiden, Google the nearest hospital,” I tease. “They will need stints and a possible bypass, or ten.”
“Winner gets a t-shirt,” the waiter says, as if that makes it alright then starts writing down the rest of our orders. Oh great! I am going to kill myself eating all this shit; but, hey, I get a damn t-shirt to wear to my funeral. Why the hell not?
After the waiter leaves, Hunter looks at me. His eyes follow Gray’s arm around my shoulders to where his fingers are drawing circles on my arm. “So, when were you gonna tell me you two were fuckin’?” Hunter says, putting his fist out for Gray to bump. Gray just glares at him. “What, no love? Man, I expect more from you. Is that why Landon ran off, couldn’t take the pressure of being dumped for a rock star?”
“Shut up, Cunter,” Gray growls.
“I need to get some air,” I murmur to Gray, shoving his arm off my neck.
The minute Aiden and Cam stand to let me out of the booth; I bolt up the aisle to the front door without looking back. “Daisy!” Cam shouts but I don’t turn around. I shove through the door into the parking lot collapsing onto a bench. The past week is eating me alive. I am so torn over everything going on. I came on this trip thinking about all the time I would get to spend with my fiancé. How this would be a time we could look back on once we were married. You know… stories to tell our kids, our grandkids.
Now I don’t have Landon. He is gone with Tad, not answering my calls and to top it all off left last night without saying a word to me about what I walked in on. I keep pushing it all away, refusing to deal with it but I have to at some point. I have to deal with the fact that Landon doesn’t want me anymore. There is also the fact that I don’t crave Landon like I do Gray. The thought of Landon with Tad makes me angry… But the thought of Gray with a groupie hurts, if I think about it.
“When are you goin’ to learn that Cunter is just trying to ruffle your feathers?” Cam says from the door. Walking over she sits next to me on the bench. “Listen, your life has been thrust into all of this shit. You really had no idea what to expect when you stepped on the bus. I get that but, Daisy, listen, for the next two days we have no Landon or Tad with us to cause problems. They’re off lickin’ their wounds or whatever. It’s just us with the guys. Let’s make the best of it. Shit. Daisy, let yourself have some fun without feeling guilty for it! When you see Landon in Vegas deal with getting your closure, or whatever the hell you want, then move the fuck on. Landon was keeping all of that from you. He didn’t care about your feelings; so, the way I see it, you’re a free bird. It’s all you and me, babe. We gotta protect our boys from all of that rabid pussy.”
“I know,” I reply, blowing out a breath. I know that she’s right. I can’t sit sulking about everything. I sure as shit know that Landon hasn’t been. “If he isn’t sorry, then I guess I shouldn’t be either.”
Cam points at my tattoo, exposed by the green halter top she demanded that I wear. “I love the story behind this you know,” she swoons. While I was getting dressed earlier she demanded every last detail from last night, hanging from every word. “You’re strong. Stronger than anyone I know, probably. You can handle Landon along with all of this crazy shit. Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Alright.” I nod, “I’m dying to watch Hunter try to take on Henry, then live to tell the tale.”
By the time we make it back to the table, the food is being set out. I slide back into the booth next to Gray, meeting his concerned gaze. “Are you okay?” he whispers into my ear.
Turning my face, I capture his lips with mine. No tongue, I just move my mouth against his. This isn’t about giving a show to everyone, this is about reassuring him. I don’t want Gray to think that I regret anything I shared with him, because I don’t. His hand cups my face as he smiles against my lips. “Stop! It’s too much!” Hunter groans. “All this sweetness in one sitting is too much. Fuck! I’m goin’ to die from sugar shock to the cock!”
I pull away from Gray to meet Hunter’s eyes. My glare makes him wince a bit but a wicked smile spreads across his face. This asshole thinks he can ruffle me? Ha! “What’s the matter, Cunter?” I purr sweetly, reaching across the table, covering his hand with mine. “You jealous, babe? You talk so much shit on Aiden for being pussy whipped or Gray for being sweet but what do you have to show for your ‘fuck it all’ theory for life? Last night I watched your drunk ass get hauled onto the bus by Henry. You had no woman, got your sad ass shut the fuck down by a bitch who didn’t want you. Then you come in our room, naked by the way, to sing us a song. All the while claiming that you
r heart is hurting? It sounds to me that the big, bad Cunter isn’t as big or bad as he wants us to think.” Leaning in real close to his face, I slam down my gauntlet. “Oh, by the way, babe. Last night, saw what you’re workin’ with.” His eyes shoot up in amusement. “Not impressed. I sure hope you can work that tongue. If not, I hope you can make a hell of a gift basket.”
“Fuck! Would you look at the smoke on that burn?” Cam says, bumping my fist as everyone laughs. Everyone except Hunter, who looks like he could carve out my eyes with his spoon.
“Oh, it’s on,” he growls.
The waiter interrupts us, “You two each have thirty minutes to finish your meals to win the shirts, along with bragging rights. If not you will pay for your meal then take the walk of shame. Time starts now.”
“You’ll never do it,” I say, arching my brow. “I’ll bet you’ll be hurling in the parking lot before that timer dings.”
“Oh really?” he laughs. “Alright, Daisy, if I clear this plate without taking a yak in the parking lot…” Scratching his face as he thinks, Hunter’s eyes widen as the idea hits him. “You spooners have to hit the female strip club with us in Vegas. Oh, I also get to pick what you wear.”
I smile at him, “Fine, Cunter, but if I win this bet, which I will, you boys all have to come to a male strip club with us. I may even be able to get them to let you boys perform in those pretty little thongs of yours.”
“You’re goin’ down,” Hunter says, shoveling into the first half of his burger.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. I’m not about to get naked for all these assholes, Daisy,” Cam whispers nervously in my ear.
“Don’t worry, Cam, I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m having fun,” I say with a smile then dig into my fries.
After watching Hunter and Henry battle the burgers for twenty minutes, Hunter starts to slow. “Lookin’ a bit green there aren’t ya?” I tease as he tries to chew his fries.